His Sweet Cherry Blossom
by Of Anime and Manga
Summary: To him it all happened so fast. At first he hated her, she was annoying, loud and rude. Then he began to find her company enjoyable. Soon love followed. But, without a word said of his love, he left. Only to see her again. To hear her laugh, see her smile. But, again he had to leave her. He may be to late though when he meets her once more, for she is slowly dying. Zoroxoc
1. Chapter 1

**_Chapter 1_**

The Straw Hat Pirates stopped at a small island to restock seeing as Luffy had eaten almost everything on the ship, It had been a week since Sanji had joined the crew and he was already familiar with Luffy eating habits. As they left the boat Zoro headed straight towards a small tavern not far from the docks. He was planning on get a few mugs of sake before heading back to the ship to take a nap or something.

As he entered he passed a few small groups of pirates and travelers never paying them a second glance. He took the first open stool and ordered. He leaned against the bar top and looked lazily around at all the other people, they were all talking and laughing at once about many different things, some went on about things they had seen recently, others talked about their oldest adventures. Zoro looked up just as his drink was set down and took a long slow slip.

Suddenly the doors swung open and in walked a small figure with a large hat on its head with a large cap type of coat over its shoulders blocking any further details. The figure marched towards one of the tables and a few guys at the bar laughed as they watched talking to themselves about something. When the figure stopped at the table at the table it bent down a little more and said something in a low voice to the largest man, he laughed a cruel laugh and looked at his mates saying something to them causing them to laugh too.

The men next to Zoro laughed again and one shook his head sympathetically, as if he knew what was going to happen. The figure moved quicker then lightning and landed several punches on the guys nose, jaw, stomach, and for good measure kicked his shin, and in the blink of any eye the cloacked figure was sitting next to Zoro with the group of men. Zoro shook his head and then looked back at the man, he was on the ground moaning about the pain of the kick and punches, either he is really weak or this guys strong, Zoro thought then something dawned on him, he might have eaten a devil fruit.

That would explain the speed and strength for how small he was. Just as Zoro turned to ask the guy he saw a young woman in his place, she had the same cloak on her hat and the hat was now on the bar top. Her wave strawberry blond hair came just to her shoulders and was in a mess, this was the first thing Zoro noticed as it was a strange color (Yeah, that's a strange color…'cause his hair isn't green. Haha :P )

The young woman swivled around to look at the bartender when he saw her face, it was very familiar but he couldn't recall what it was from, the gental looking features with a harsh criticizing set of eyes that seemed to cut through you, and even the familiar arch of her eyebrows all plowed into Zoro, all his time spent watching her from a far, getting yelled at or tripping because he was too busy watching her. It was her, the one he let get away as he began to obsess over beating Kuina. It was his first love, Sakura. His sweet Cherry Blossom.

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This may just be a one shot but tell me what you think!

I'm not to sure where I should go with this if I continue, do you think I should go from the child-hood and do a story about that, or start at where this is leaving off? I hope he didn't seem to occ...

I came up with this when I was watching Soul Eater on Toonami. It was strange the episode related nowhere near this story, maybe it was the One Piece commercial I saw that sparked it... The world may never no...

Anyway,

Thank You very Much,

Of Anime and Manga


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter 2_**

A young Zoro sat under a tree half asleep when a young girl about a year younger than him ran past chasing a few boys. "Get back here so I can punch you!" she shouted in a giggling voice. Zoro glared at the girl sleepily before leaning further down on the tree. The young girl ran back again with the boys nearly falling over Zoro's legs which were stretched out in front of him. But the young girl hadn't seen him and tripped over his legs as she ran past causing her to land face first on the ground with a startled yelp. Zoro glared at the fallen girl the realized she was shaking slightly. He become concerned thinking she was crying but when she sat up whipping mud and dirt from her face she was laughing. She rubbed her nose but kept laughing as she looked at Zoro, "Sorry, I didn't see ya there." She said between giggles.

Zoro just started at her dumbfounded before answering with a 'It's okay' which resembled a grunt. "Hey Sakura, hurry up!" Shouted the boys she had been chasing. The girl, Sakura, turned to look at them then looked back a Zoro, "My names Sakura, nice to meet you." She said holding out a hand. Zoro looked at her then her out stretched hand for a few moments before grasping her small hand in his larger one saying "Zoro." She smiled widely showing her white teeth with a few gaps from her missing ones. Then she stood and ran off towards the boys and punching the first one she reached while the others ran off.

That was his first memory when he was only 7 and her 6. As days passed he began to see her more and more and began to hope to see her more. He cherished all those memories of this girl, though he doesn't speak of them to anybody he always thought of her.

Suddenly he was brought back from his thoughts by a hand being waved in front of his face, "Hey, why are you staring at me?" Asked a voice so very familiar, when he looked up he saw Sakura looking at him like he was lunatic. "Excuse me?" he asked looking at her trying to wipe all hope of her remembering him from his mind. "What are ya deaf; I said why are you staring at me?"

"No reason." Zoro answered turning back to his sake trying to act as casual as possible. "There has to be a reason…" Sakura said before quieting and began to get a thoughtful look on her face, "You know you look a lot like this kid I knew when I was little, what's your name?" she asked looking at him with those beautiful pale green eyes that he had looked into so many times, "Zoro." He answered slowly, he couldn't help the spark of hope and joy that flooded through him at the possibility of her remembering him, though being remembered as 'this kid' hurt slightly but he waved it off.

"Zoro…" she muttered zoning out a little to stare at the countertop, then she snapped back to look at him pride and recognition plain on her face. " Zoro Roronoa?!" she exclaimed happily. "Yes?" He said turning to look at her only to be engulfed in a huge hug, "Wow it's been so long! What has it been 4 years?" Zoro was stunned but amazingly happy inside, "Yeah," he said hugging her back a little, "How have you been?" he asked when she released him. "Good, you?" she asked grinning ear to ear, which made Zoro smile a little as well, "Good."

"Are you a master swordsman yet?" she asked excitedly, "Not yet, but I've gotten closer." He said with a grin and reaching over to mess up her already messy hair, "And have you gotten any closer to becoming a fairy princess?" he asked remembering her odd dream from when she was 8, "I wish," she said laughing and ducting under his hand, "But, I have become a pirate!" she stated proudly, "And a captain too."

"Really? That's great, I'm a pirate now too." And as if it was all planned out perfectly Luffy stomped in followed by a sulking Nami, a freaked out Usopp, and a love sick Sanji. "Zoro!?" Exclaimed Luffy as he ran towards said person, "Where have you been, we've been looking all over for you!?" Luffy shouted ignoring the fact that Zoro was talking to someone. "I told you where I was going maybe you should listen every now and then" Zoro snapped at Luffy aggravated by his idiocy. Nami grabbed Luffy's ear and pulled hard, "Luffy! Zoro's talking to someone its rude to interrupt." She said angrily pulling on his ear towards the seats next to Zoro.

Sanji immediately went to Sakura with his dumb pick up lines and compliments, she giggled at a few which made Zoro a little jealous. Nami marched back over and pulled him away as well. "Who are they?" Sakura asked laughing as she watched Sanji now kiss up to Nami. "They would be the Straw hat pirates." Zoro said trying to get rid of his growing headache. "Who's the captain?" Before Zoro couldn't answer Luffy jumped, "Me! Someday I'm going to be king of the pirates!" Zoro pushed him away as Sakura laughed. Zoro's headache only increased, 'Thanks for the wonderful headache Luffy.' He thought sarcastically.

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So here is the next chapter! Yeah, tell me what you think? Should I continue. Mistakes will be fixed when the whole things done.

Disclaimer: I sadly don't own One Piece, Eiichiro Oda does.


	3. Chapter 3

**_Chapter 3_**

Sakura and Zoro talked for a while about how they had been doing and what they had done, Zoro cherished every single moment of their conversation trying to remember every detail of her face and her voice. He knew that soon the time with her was going to end, this thought made him sad but he pushed it away and focused on the present. After a few hours of talking, laughing, and what not Luffy began to get extremely restless, he had already been up and around the small town one hundred times, this time he told Zoro that they needed to be on their way, of course he did it in the rudest way possible.

Zoro stood and looked at Sakura one last time she had stood up as well, she was only to his shoulders, and hugged him tightly. "I'll see ya again soon, right?" she asked hopefully her cheerful smile never leaving her face. "Of course," he answered hoping that it was true. Zoro smiled at her one last time before turning to leave. He didn't want to leave her again, but he wasn't going to leave Luffy.

Young Zoro was never one to have fun, he was very lazy, unless it came to becoming a master swordsman, and he always worked hard at that. After his lessons he would always practice by himself for a few hours, but where he practiced a lot of the others kids in his village liked to play. After his first encounter with Sakura he became more aware of the other children in the village, he would always look for that happy go-lucky wild child. So when he would practice he would sometimes be distracted looking for her, he would notice that she hung out with a group of boys and when she would go near the girls that would ignore her. He was angered slightly by this but didn't understand why, he barely knew that girl, why should he care for her? So one day when training he was that young Sakura was trying to talk to a group of girls but they began to bully her, including knocking her around and calling her names, even with all this Sakura never became angered, which Zoro found odd because with the boys she always fought back.

So he left his practice and went over to see what was going on, as soon as the girls noticed him they ran off, leaving Sakura sitting on the ground with dirt all over her and her hair a mess. She looked up, her eyes shinny with tears and lunged at him nearly knocking him over in a hug. At first Zoro stood completely stiff like a board having no idea what to do with the crying girl clinging to him, but soon relaxed and hugged her carefully. After a few minutes Sakura pulled back whipping her face with her sleeve, her face was stained from tears and her eyes red. She looked up at Zoro and opened her mouth to say something but instead hiccupped loudly; she covered her mouth and let out a small giggle.

Zoro patted her head and said "Why do they always pick on you?" though he didn't show it he was genuinely curious and concerned. "I'm not sure." She said before hiccupping again. "I think-hic- it has to do with the-hic- fact that I always hang around-hic- boys instead of girls…" she said trailing off in deep thought before hiccupping once more and bursting into another fit of giggles, and this got Zoro to chuckle quietly. "Um, thank you, for, um, stopping them…" she said after a few minutes. "I was really scared, I mean, I didn't want to hurt them because I knew that I would get in trouble if I did." She added quietly. "No problem," Zoro responded with a small smile. That rest of the day Zoro had spent with Sakura as she had insisted that he have fun instead of train.

That was another one of his greatest memories of her. It was one of the first times that he had protected what he loved, one of the many times that were soon to follow…

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Alrighty, so theres another chapter! Yay, I'm so freaking happy I actually go reviews! I love you guys so much! I was starting to think I was a complete failure at writing! So this story might take a darker sadder twist , I'm still think. So I hope I get more reviews, it means so much to me when I get a new review.

I will fix any grammar mistakes because there are a lot. I'm ashamed I just graduated 8th grade and i'm a big failure at grammar, oh well. But yeah, oh and sadly I don't own One Piece!


	4. Chapter 4

**_Chapter_**_ **4**_

The Straw Hat pirates sailed lazily through the Grand Line, not much had happened since they left the last island. The only thing different was that Zoro was acting odd. He wasn't provoked by Sanji's insults, he wasn't drinking much, and he was always sitting by the edge of the boat staring off with a blank look on his face.

Zoro sat on the railing of the Going Marry, his feet swung over the edge of the ship, he slumped forward slightly as he stared at the sea, he had been like this for 4 days, his mind set on one thing and one thing only, Sakura. He hadn't seen her in so long. She looked the same as ever, her was messy just like it had always been and her green eyes held a spark to them, and spark of intelligence and adventure. He of course noticed a few new features such as the double piercing in her left ear and the scar above her right eye. He couldn't help but smile when he had seen her snaggle tooth on the right, and her oddly sharp teeth. He would always make fun because of it.

_At the age of 8 Zoro was heavily training to be a Master Swordsman, but there was one thing that would distract him from his training and her name was Sakura. She began to hang out with him though he had told her countless time in the past to go away. But slowly the girl began to grow on him, she would forcefully drag him away from his training and take him places, such as to the tallest tree she could find and get him to clime it, or take him to her farm and have him watch her as she tried to ride one of the hug pigs only to have her fall in the mud before trying to get Zoro to get on a pig. She always had some crazy thing she wanted to try. Today it was trying to catch fish with their bare hands. Zoro decided to join in before she had to force him in to the water by possible picking him up, which she very easily could._

_Zoro got out of the creek to watch the girl dive in again and again trying to snatch a fish. He watched her silently, and with that he noticed the small tooth with stuck out ever so slightly it laid along her bottom lip and was rather sharp just like all her other teeth. He found it an odd feature, though it seemed everything about this girl was odd to Zoro. He shook his head and at that precise moment a fish slapped him in the face, "What the!" and stunned Zoro shouted and glared at the girl who was now holding the fish, "Sorry! It slipped out of my hand!" the young girl exclaimed but at the same time held back a giggle, "Sure it did, shark." He mumbled raising a hand to wipe the water and fishy slime off his face, "What did you call me?" the young girl asked with a hint of amusement in her voice as she let the fish slip back into the water._

_"I called you shark, is that a problem?" Zoro replied with a smirk, "How am I a shark?" the girl asked utterly confused, "Because of your teeth." Zoro said, "Why what's wrong with them?" the girl raised a hand to touch one of her teeth. Zoro had an exasperated look on his face, was she that stupid? "They're sharp like a sharks, you moron."_

_"I'm not a moron!" she shouted angrily. That day ended with Sakura chasing Zoro all through the town until her mother caught her and dragged her home for dinner._

"She always did seem to get angry easily…" Zoro muttered to himself with a small smile.

"Who are ya talking about?" LUffy asked from right behind Zoro scaring him, "Uh, no one." Zoro said quickly before getting up and walking away, ignoring Luffy as he followed him asking more questions.

"Uh guys!" Nami said from where she stood by the back of the boat. "You might wanna see this!" And with that the Straw Hat pirates crowded by Nami looking towards where she was pointing, "What is that?" Luffy said looking out at the mess, "It looks like a ship…" Nami trailed off squinting as she focused her eyes on the object again. "It looks like it hit something." She said again, little did they know that there were several survives still on the wrecked and sinking ship…

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I'm so sorry for the super long wait! I was busy and then my laptop broke. I had to deal with puppies and my new colt I'm weaning then 3 horses I need to ride daily, then breaking my 3 year old, then helping my mom get wood for this winter, and so much other stuff! My head might explode if I think about all this stuff to much! So I think I might upload another chapter tonight, not sure I'm thinking about it, its about 2 in the morning and I just got done typing this chapter.

So any constructive criticism is welcome! I don't take mean words nicely when its about my writing, I'm sensitive about that stuff, so don't just come to be mean and tell me I should quiet. I haven't had time to double check it all and I will once I complete this story.

And if I where to write a story where a One Piece Character some how came to our world, would you read it? I'm thinking about something like that. Just wondering!

Thank you all so much,

Of Anime and Manga.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The Merry Going slowly steered towards the shipwreck, and once they were close enough they saw that several people were still alive and were holding onto a large broken section of the ship. Luffy began to stretch his arms up to pull the people up, and Chopper went to work checking them for broken bone and bandaging gashes and cuts. The last person to come up was the one girl Zoro had been thinking about constantly.

She had a large gash on her arm and a cut on her forehead, both were bleeding horribly. Zoro immediately went to her with a towel and pressed it to her arm. She looked at Zoro and smiled, though it was weak, "Hey there, fancy meeting you here." She said still holding her weak grin.

"Sit down," Zoro said gently pushing her down, but she refused and began to push him away so she could go check her surviving crew. Zoro followed her silently, making sure she was okay, and finally she went to Chopper to have him sew up her arm and forehead, but she still asked question about her crew making sure they were really alright.

Chopper was sewing up her arm when Zoro asked what had happened, "I'm not sure, we where sailing quietly, I was playing a game of poker with a few guys when the ship suddenly shuddered and I tried to figure out what happened when I was hit on the head and knocked out but I woke up to fin Thomas dragging my up onto a board." She seemed to zone out staring off into space, but quickly shook her head getting rid of whatever she was thinking of. Suddenly she sucked in a deep breath and hunched forward, clutching her stomach. She let out a few gasping breaths, her face scrunched up in pain.

Zoro's eyes widened and he looked at Chopper "What's wrong with her?!" He asked worriedly. Chopper frantically began asking her question but she only waved him off. "It-it'll… pass in… a-a moment." She gasped out, her breathing coming out in painful gasps.

After several agonizing minutes she slowly sat up, she was sweating slightly, at this time her remaining crew had gathered around her with sad looks on their faces, and the Straw Hats stood nearby. "Are you okay Captain?" One of Sakura's men asked kneeling in front of her. "I'm fine, don't give me that look!" she growled, shooing him away.

"Sakura…" Zoro said quietly his expression giving away his unasked question, what happened? She looked at him sadly before looking away.

As kids Sakura would constantly get sick, though Zoro never thought anything of it, he would always check on her. But the older her got, the more he would check on her, even going to take care of her like make her soup or tea. He found it odd, it seemed like every week Sakura was sick, though no medicine would ever help her, and she was constantly taking medication. She never would tell him what it was for though. He would notice as they got older that Sakura would stop wanting to go on adventures and would want to sleep sometimes all day.

He guessed that it was just due to the fact that she was growing out of her idiotic ideas of fun, but soon he began to miss their time alone doing stupid things, and he began to get worried. He noticed that she began to eat less and less.

She also began to complain of stomach pain. He found this all very worrying. There was one day that he remembered; it was right before he left their small home town.

_Zoro and Sakura were spending one of their rare day outside exploring the forest, Zoro was 18 and the time and was getting ready to leave the small town, so he was trying to spend as much time with Sakura. He had come to accept a scary idea to him. _

_He had somewhere along the line developed feelings for this annoying girl. This to him was all very confusing so he had always pushed it to the back of his mind and agreed that he should enjoy all the time he had with her. Though he had noticed something was wrong, all day she had been oddly quietly and seemingly sad. _

_She was having a bad day, he had figured that much out, she hadn't woken up with almost ten and she refused to eat breakfast. Zoro had begun to realize how much weight she was losing, though she wasn't very big to begin, she seemed too had lost too much weight. _

_Zoro had been zoning out thinking about all these things when all of a sudden Sakura whirled towards the side of the road and fell to her knees and puked. Zoro had noticed this in just enough time to pull her hair back. But, he noticed something that scared him beyond belief, Sakura had vomited up blood, it was almost straight blood. He looked at her in horror as she stood up a little shaky. She looked down and tears began to stream down her pale face and she began to shake. _

_Zoro reached towards her but she shrank back, this made Zoro feel extremely hurt, but he pushed it to the back of him mind and reached for her more swiftly and pulled her to him. She seemed to collapse on him as a sob ripped itself from her small frame. _

_After several moments she calmed down and mumbled a quiet Sorry into his chest. "It's okay, just can you please tell me what's going on?" he asked, he pulled away from her and bent down to look into her eyes searching for an answer. "I'm sorry, I don't know either… if I did I would have told you. But nobody can figure it out." She mumbled quietly looking at her feet. _

_He sighed and wrapped an arm around her, "It's okay, let's just get you home."_

_Several months later, Zoro left. Though he was reluctant to Sakura told him he had to accomplish him dream, only then could he return home. So he left, but Sakura had not mentioned the fact that when he would return home that she might not be there, as she was dying and nobody could cure her._

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Okay, so i have no new reviews. I may just cry now... oh well! Its probably best nobody reads this, its pretty shitty...

So I wrote this and then realized that its turning into a tragedy. I guess my mood it reflecting in my writing. I've been pretty stressed lately. But I won't go into it or I might cry and stuff. So lets see if you guys can guess her disease. If you can then you get one hundred cupcakes! Someone very special has a disease like it. Its very saddening. But we're working through it. Now i have an important decision to make! Mac and cheese or Ramen! Oh and I have an important decision to make on the next chapter too. XD


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter 6_

It had been several days after Sakura and her remaining crew men had been brought aboard the Going Merry, and Sakura's crew seemed fine, only a few cuts and bruises. But Sakura wasn't so lucky. Zoro was beginning to feel that terror he had felt when Sakura began to get seemingly sicker.

Though when he had seen her for the first time just weeks ago he didn't fully take in her appearance, now that he did he realized she was very pale, and was possible thinner than before Zoro left. She refused to eat meals most the time and seemed to have a hard time moving some days.

He tried to figure out what was wrong by asking her crew but they refused to say anything, as orders from their Captain. But one day Sakura was leaning against the railing of the ship when she suddenly seemed to grow paler before turning and puking. Zoro rushed to her side along with Chopper and a few of her crew men.

Chopper noticed that it was red like blood and rushed her of to ask her questions. Zoro followed but was forced to wait outside. So he sat by the door and waited and waited.

As Chopper sat Sakura down and looked at her before saying, "I really would like to help you if you could just tell me what the problem was." Sakura stared at the small reindeer for a few moments before looking down towards the ground. "I don't think you can help me…" she whispered her voice on the verge of breaking. When she looked up there was a sad smile on her face and tears were slowly making there was down her cheeks.

"Of course I can help you I'm a doctor!" Chopper announced when laying a hoof on her knee. "No, I don't think you can. Many doctors have tried but none have been able to help me. Now, I'm sure you're an amazing and wonderful doctor but it's too late." Chopper continued to look at her thinking. More tears began to stream down her face and she hunched forward putting her face in her hands.

She remembered possible the worse day of her life, it was just after Zoro had left that she found out…

_Sakura sat patiently in the doctor's office, they had run some tests on her a few days ago and the results had just come in. Her mother and father stood next to her as they waited. Many months that had tried to find the answer to Sakura's loss of appetite and dramatic loss of weight. This latest symptom had caused them to rush to the best doctor they could find. Vomiting blood had scared her parents and Sakura so much that no distance or amount of Beli was too great._

_The doctor came in slowly with several pieces of paper and a sad look on his face. The kind older man sat down and looked at young Sakura. She had so much life in her eyes, yet she looked almost like the walking dead. _

"_After the several blood tests we have found that your daughter has Stomach Cancer." The doctor said this in a very quiet and sad tone, as soon as the words left his mouth Sakura's mother began to cry. Sakura herself sat in shock. She didn't know what to say or do. She faintly recognized that the doctor said that she was in the middle stage and that it could possibly be cured, though the chances were very slim. After that everything was quiet, she noted that at some point her father had put his arm around her and was hugging her, he himself was crying. And after that, they left, slowly making their way home._

_Sakura sat in a trance for almost a week. Only moving to go to the bathroom, drink, or eat a little. She slowly came out of this trance, though she did not once cry after hearing this news. She began to look for a way to cure this disease. She went to as many doctors as she could. But, not one had the answer. Soon she looked towards myths and legends of life saving waters, and foods. _

_She came across a legendary apple, located in the Grandline. Many had tried to find it but none had found it. It was an apple on a small island on top of a hill. This apple granted the one to eat it Immortality. May it only be a single bite and you could live forever. It is said to cure any disease. This had given Sakura a tiny shred of hope. _

_With this knowledge she began to gather a crew to set out to see with to find this Apple. There was said to be a map. This map was held in a museum, many believe it is just a myth and decided that it should be held as a reminder of the hope many people had once had. Quickly Sakura gathered her crew and set off towards the Grandline where this museum was. _

_She quickly began to lose hope though, as entering the Grandline wasn't as easy as she had hoped. But finally they were in, but that was the easy apart, once in they had to travel all the way to the island were this map was which was very far away from where they had entered. So for two years Sakura and her crew travled up the Grandline to find this map. But she was slowly growing worse and worse. There were days when she couldn't even get out of bed. She realized that she might just die before they reached the island. _

Not once had Sakura cried since she had learned of her cancer, not until Chopper had laid a hoof on her knee. Something had broken inside her. Something she had held back many years. She told Chopper about her cancer and how she was in the latest stage, how she could never be cure unless she found this apple.

All through is Chopper sat next to her taking in every bit of information. When she was done Chopper got up and began to gather things. "What are you doing?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"I'm going to find the cure for you!" Chopper announced and this after all she had cried and sobbed and relived everything, this one little reindeer with a big heart and hope made her smile.

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Thanks for reading! I'm super happy I got a review last chapter and I hope I get more.

I began writing this chapter and soon I didn't even know what I was writing my mind just took over. So I hope you like it! Yes, she has cancer. Someone very dear to me also has a form of Cancer. So i know somewhat of how she acts from real life experience. I thought of actually having her die but I don't want to do it. I think I will also write another version along with this one that changes after Chapter 5 were she actually does die, cause I have a great idea for that. Though I don't really want to kill off my character.

So let me know if you would read that as well. Also, tell me how you think this should go, does Chopper find a cure or do the go in search of this apple.

Thank you again!

Of Anime and Manga


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter 7_

Sakura walked out of Choppers room with a smile on her face. As soon as she was out of the door everyone jumped at her asking so many questions that she began to get a headache. She laughed as she watched them shove each other out of the way to get to her, even Zoro had joined in. She grinned at them, "I'm fine you guys." With this she rolled her eyes and shoved them all out of the way. She made her way onto the deck then towards the kitchen.

"Is there anything you would like me to make you, my darling?" Sanji asked being his usual self. "No thank you. I'm just getting some water." She said smiling at him. She got her glass of water and turned around to see that everyone minus the now busy doctor had followed her.

Sakura looked at them all with a smile, "I'm fine guys." She waved them off and finished her water and rinsed her glass out before leaving again. By now everyone had left, and she was left alone. She went to the rail and leaned against it staring out at the sea. "Where could it be?" she asked herself quietly.

"Where could what be?" Luffy asked coming up next to her and sitting down. She looked at him for a second before answering. "The answer to my problem," she said sitting down next to him. Luffy looked at her confused before shrugging. They sat quietly for a few moments, but silence isn't something Luffy's good at, "So what was the whole throwing up blood thing about? I've done that but only when I get punched really hard." He looked at her tilting his head his eyes shining with curiosity. Sakura looked at him for a few moments before Nami came up, "Hi Nami, and in answer to your question, my awesomeness is just too intense for my body." And with that she stood up and ran. She giggled at her lame excuse but she felt bad for not telling him. But she didn't want to make them worry.

She walked around for a while before finding Usopp. "Hey, watcha doin'?" she asked coming up next to him where he sat working on something. "Nothing just my newest weapon." He said not looking up. She sigh seeing as he wasn't going to talk to her and headed off to find someone else to talk to. She was avoiding Zoro knowing that he would continue to push her until he found out what was up, but she truly didn't want to worry him anymore.

As if the Gods were working against her, she ran into the one person she had been trying to avoid. "Sakura." Zoro said and immediately she knew what was coming. "It was nothing." She said trying to walk away but Zoro gently grabbed her shoulder and made her stay in place. "I know it wasn't nothing." He said in a soft yet stern voice. She looked up at him "I said I'm fine Zoro. Can you just drop it?" And with that she looked up at him.

Zoro swore he felt his heartbreak just by the pleading look she was giving him. He dropped his hand from her shoulder and watched as she walked away. He shook his head and walked away, he went to take a nap but found it hard to fall asleep.

"_Zoro wait up. I don't feel good!" A young Sakura ran up a hill after her companion Zoro, who was currently walking swiftly up a steep him. He stopped and looked down at her. She was pale and breathing hard. He felt bad for having to drag her up the steep hill but he wanted to spend time with her up on the top. _

_When she caught up Zoro swiftly picked her up causing her to let out a short and surprised squeak. But soon she was smiling at Zoro and he gently smiled back. Soon they reached the top of the hill and Zoro gently set Sakura down and walked towards the few trees at the top he sat and leaned against one Sakura following. She sat next to him leaning forwards slightly. _

_In front of them was a cliff and beyond that was the sea. It was magnificent, Sakura thought staring out at it. She looked at Zoro who was also looking out at the sea. She smiled sadly; she didn't want Zoro to go. She cared about him more then she had ever cared for anyone before. He was the one person she trusted all her secrets too, he knew all her fears, what she was allergic too, how to tell if she was happy or sad and so much more. _

_She had always known he was going to leave to follow his dream, to keep his promise to Kuina. Sakura respected him deeply for all his hard work he had put in to try and fulfill that promised made so many years ago. _

_She looked at his face; he was always appeared calm but was never truly relaxed. But looking at him now as he looked at the sea with a small smile in his face, he looked so open and happy. Like everything else didn't matter at this moment. Before she even realized it a few tears forced their way down her cheek and at that precise moment Zoro turned to look at her. _

_His smile disappeared when he saw the tears and he sat up "What's wrong?" he asked, his voice full of panic and worry. Quickly Sakura looked away furiously whipping at her cheeks to get rid of the unwanted tears. "It's nothing. I was just thinking."_

"_You know that's a dangerous think for you to do right?"Zoro asked teasingly. "Oh whatever." She said grinning at him while rolling her eyes. After a moment of silence Zoro spoke up, "What were you thinking of?" he asked looking back at the sea. _

_Sakura glanced at him then at the ground, after a moment's thought she answered him, "Everything." She spoke in such a soft voice that Zoro was almost sure she hadn't said anything. He looked at her taking a deep breath. "That's a lot to think about." He said smiling softly. "Yeah, it sure is." Sakura said looking back at the sea before leaning back on the tree and closing her eyes. _

_For the rest of the day that sat there talking and laughing. Both were just enjoying the others company, holding onto their last precious moments together._

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Hi there! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. It started out more sullen but I hated it so I rewrote it a little happier. So, her excuse to Luffy 'My awesomeness is too intense for my body.' I came up with that while listening to My Ninja Info Cards KAJ Mix, the awesome little Naruto song!

My body's to intense with my ninja info cards!

Yay Kabuto! So anyway. This chapter started getting deeper, though I don't really think I'm that deep as a person but whatever. Its late and I get weird when its late.

So I was going to write this chapter last night but that day I had fallen off on of our mares and I landed hard and jarred my head so my head was in so much pain I was literally crying. I though I had a concussion or something but I just jarred it and pulled some muscles in my neck and both my shoulders. I also bruised my heel and pulled something slightly in that same knee.

I didn't go to the doctor(We live way to far away) but I didn't tell my mom until about ten at night when I was about to type this but them the pain just suddenly kicked up 10x worse so I had to go to her. I feel like such a freaking idiot for falling off. So now it hurts to walk, lift hay and stuff, look up or down, lay down them try to get up, and sometimes it hurts to breath cause of my neck. So yeah, I'm in lots of pain, not to mention my killer headache.

Sorry that's a lot but my updates may be slower cause of my neck pain it hurts to sit the way I do to type. Oh and I have a poll about my next project, I have a couple I definatly want to do but later on. But tell me what you think of my next Fanfic idea!

Bye-bye!

And thanks for reading hope you can review this story!

Of Anime and Manga


	8. Chapter 8

_Chapter 8_

A few days after talking to Chopper, Sakura had tried her best to act cheerful and happy but she found it hard sometimes. Often she would feel like crying, so she tried to keep busy by training with her few crewmen and reading the few books they had on the ship that Nami used in her mapping. Of course none of them mentioned the island that held the apple that she searched for.

All this time Chopper had spent all his time in his office going through his various medical books looking for anything that might help, he would then occasionally call Sakura into his office and he would take blood and tissue samples to test and do other tests trying to find away to at least make this all less painful for her.

So with her frequent visits Sakura and Chopper began to get closer. She would always go to him if she felt she had to cry or talk to someone. Chopper always sat and listened until she was finished, then he would try to make her smile or laugh.

Sakura was also kept busy by trying to avoid Zoro, but that didn't last too long. While Sakura was leaving Choppers office one day she was suddenly picked up, causing her to scream. She then realized that it was Zoro who had picked her up and she looked at him confused. But, he only began to walk towards the ladder up the mast to the crow's nest.

"Do I have to carry you up or will you climb up?" he asked her, "I'll go up on my own." She muttered and he set her down. She began to climb up slowly followed shortly by Zoro.

Once they reached the top Zoro sat down and motioned for her to do the same, and she carefully sat down trying not to look at him or get to close. This hurt Zoro slightly but he tried to shake it off. "So are you going to answer my questions now?" he asked her in a low voice. She answered with a small nod as she brought her knees up and leaned her chin against them.

"Good." He said "Why did you leave home?" he asked, though it wasn't the question he really wanted to ask he figured it would be better to start out with a more simple question. Sakura's head shot up to look at him, her large green eyes, usually bright, but lately never truly happy, had tears slowly building in then. They shone in a dark way, with years of underlying sadness.

She took a deep shuttering breath before answering him, "I left in search of something." He voice was a whisper as she lowered her head, her hair coming forward to shadow her face like a curtain. "For what?" Zoro asked gently reaching over and tilting her chin to look at him, and as he moved his hand back he couldn't stop himself from gently moving her hair back behind her ear.

"You'd think I was crazy if I told you." She muttered looking at his hand as he moved it away. "I found out you were crazy the day we met," He said with a smile "So you don't have to worry about that."

She let out a light laugh, but it didn't sound true, it held a sad note to it. Sakura blinked slowly, "I'm searching for an apple. But, not just any apple, it's a special apple. It's an apple that can save lives and grant immortality." She looked out at the sea a few of those built up tears gently made their way down her cheek and dripped onto her hands which her clasped tightly on her bent knees.

Zoro looked at her his face mixed with confusion and concern. Why would anyone want eternal life? He thought to himself. But before he could open his mouth to asked the many questions he had, Sakura continued.

"I didn't know what to do after you left; for the most part I stayed in bed and slept. Of course, my condition didn't get any better. My parents spent every last beli searching for doctors. We traveled everywhere. None could help. There were times that I felt like just dying, putting an end to my life. I even tried a few times." Sakura let out a small humorless laugh as she reached her arm out pulling up her sleeve slowing her few scars that ran from her wrist to her elbow. Zoro took her arm gently, he felt angry, sad, and guilty. He felt so angry at himself for leaving Sakura on her own. He gently ran his thumb over the longest scar. It jerked up her arm and ended in a large slash from her one side of her arm to the other.

He let her arm drop from his hand and looked at her face. She was looking at him, her cheeks stained with tears and her eyes held something her couldn't identify. She drew in another shaky breath before speaking again.

"Every night I went to bed thinking about how I was going to get up in the morning, how I was going to eat bacon and eggs that my mother had cooked then go outside and find something to do. But when I would wake up, I could hardly sit up and drink a glass of water. It was so frustrating.

I hated myself so much for making my parents worry. I hated myself even more for trying to end the life they had granted me. It was all so overwhelming. But then it began to get better. I was so happy. I was able to get out of bed, to take a shower. Even eat a little bacon!" At the end of the sentence she was smiling looking back out at the sea. Zoro felt happiness spread through him as he watched her face shift to a rather happy and peaceful smile.

"I began to go outside, talk to some old friends, go to the stores and talk to people. I even went exploring in the woods like we use to. My parents were so happy to see me outside walking around and laughing. I occasionally had days when I wouldn't get out of bed but the next day I was up and ready for the day. I stared to think I was healing until my stomach began to hurt daily and I started to lose even more weight." Sakura's gaze dropped to look at her thin hands before she closed her eyes to prevent more tears from spilling out.

"My good days were lessening and I started to feel even worse than before. My parents found the best doctor in the land and we went to see him. It was a rather long trip. But he was able to find out what was wrong with me. Apparently my father's family has a history of stomach cancer, and I inherited it. It spread much sooner than it should have. Its normally doesn't develop until a later age but, it developing at a high rate. Right now I'm in the latest stage. I don't really think there's any hope of survival, neither do any doctors. My one and only hope is that apple. But Chopper said he was going to try and find a cure. He amazes me with his determination."With that Sakura opened her eyes and tears streamed faster and faster down her face. She tried hard to remain calm but it wasn't working.

Zoro sat silently, letting everything sink in. She was sick… she had cancer, it was incurable so far, nothing to hang onto but a silly old legend that old sailors talked about. Zoro's best friend and only love was dying, and he couldn't do anything to help. Never in his life had he felt to useless. He felt something on his cheek and he realized he had a few tears rolling slowly down his face. He lifted his hand slowly before grabbing Sakura and pulling her to him. He hugged her tightly, never wanting to let go in fear that she would disappear forever.

Sakura clung to him as she cried, ignoring the pain in both her stomach and heart. She prayed that she could stay there forever, wrapped in Zoro's strong arms.

Memories flashed through Zoro's mind. All memories filled him with joy when he thought of them before, but now they filled him with sorrow. If only he had realized that something was wrong sooner then maybe they could have helped her.

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Hey, so I hopped you liked this chapter. I was crying when I wrote this. It hits me hard, just all of it does. I like it though. Sorry if it feels awkward or anything. I usually stick to animal based stories, and I'm a very socially awkward person. xD

So through this whole chapter while writing it I listened to My Real Life, Robins Character Song(Or at least I think it is?) the music just fits even if the words just don't.

So, on a happier note I got to walk my 7 month old Paint Horse(Colt) into the house today. xD My mom didn't think I would but I walked him through the garage and into the hallway that is super thin. I wanted to lead him to my bedroom but I didn't want to push it. He was so calm it was scary. XD even with the dogs running around us and pushing a dog bowl around the slat floor. XD Lots of fun. My mom thought he would freak out but he followed me right in with nothing but a flimsy and easily broken crochet(don't judge) halter and a dog leash.

Hope you can review!

Thank You for reading,

Of Anime and Manga!


	9. Chapter 9

_Chapter Nine_

Sakura's breathing slowed and began to relax as Zoro held her. She pulled her head back a little from his shoulder and looked at his face. He was looking out across the ocean, but when he felt her move he glanced down at her. Sakura saw something in his eyes that she had never seen there before. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier." She said quietly, "I was afraid and ashamed."

Zoro smiled at her slightly "We'll find a cure." He said confidently. "Choppers the best doctor around." He added more to himself. Sakura smiled "He is; I know he'll try his hardest." Zoro put a hand on top of her head and ruffled her hair slightly only for her to swat it away complaining light heartedly.

After a half an hour of sitting in the crow's nest the two were called for dinner. The sun was slowly setting; the sky was filled with many amazing colors such as orange, red, and pink. "It's so pretty…" Sakura said a gently smile gracing her face. "Yeah, it sure is." Zoro murmured looking at her before going making his way down the ladder her following closely behind.

Dinner was as lively as usual; Sakura's crew and The Straw Hats got along well and all through dinner would swap stories. The only thing different was that Sakura had eaten almost her entire dinner. As Sakura put her fork down her crew looked over and their eyes widened. Sakura looked at them raising an eyebrow, "What?" she asked confused.

"Y-you ate!" One of the men exclaimed, "So? It was really good." At this Sanji grinned and began saying things about how his lovely Sakura thought his food was good and other things about how maybe she was falling in love with him. Of course Zoro heard him and turned to glare at him, "She's not falling for you, shitty cook." Zoro growled, causing everyone to look at him curiously. This sparked a whole argument about Sanji's cooking and in the end they were fighting. Sakura laughed lightly, knowing how hot headed Zoro can be from their childhood.

Their fight came to an end when a bowl of rice was accidently flung by Zoro and it landed on Sakura's head. The entire room went silently as Sakura's smile disappeared. Her crew scooted away as Sakura's hand reached up to pull the bowl off of her head more rice spilling down onto her. She placed the bowl on the table and her hair fell forward to hide her face. After a couple second she looked up her face was a so emotionless it frightened even Zoro.

Before anyone could blink Sakura had bolted from her chair at Zoro, hurtling herself over the table at him. He was about to move when she landed on his back pushing him forward to the ground. She had him pinned his face pushed against the floor, she looked up a sadistic grin on her face, "Luffy, would you hand my that bowl of soup?" she asked sweetly, and without a second thought Luffy handed it to her as chunk of meat half way in his mouth.

She took the bowl from him and looked at Zoro, she raised it above his head, laughing as she did so, and slowly tilted it allowing the thick lukewarm liquid to drizzle down onto his head. The only thing Zoro could think at that moment was how happy he was to see her so happy and laughing.

_A eleven year old Sakura sat under a tree yawning. She had spent all day running around with a few of her friends and was tired. The shade of the large oak was a relief from the hot, unrelenting sun, and Sakura was beginning to fall asleep unaware of the fact that the sun was slowly falling. _

_Several hours later Sakura woke to the sound of her voice being called from the darkness that surrounded her. She blinked a few times trying to wake up before answering the voice, and within seconds a very angry Zoro stood before her, slightly out of breath. _

"_Where the hell have you been?!" he shouted at her, "We've been looking for you all over!" Sakura stood up rubbing her eyes with the back of her fists, "I feel asleep." She muttered tiredly, Zoro growled at the response before smacking the back of her head. "Ow! What was that for?!" She shouted holding the back of her head, "For making me worry. Who knows what could have happened to you!" At that precise moment Sakura sneezed loudly before muttering an excuse me. _

_Zoro sighed before pulling his jacket off and wrapping it around Sakura before pulling her to his side wrapping an arm around her small frame. Gently he said, "Let's just hope you didn't catch a cold." _

_After that Sakura was barely ever able to go anywhere without Zoro following, this aggravated her slightly but it also made her very happy. She enjoyed having Zoro around, and was very happy that he cared that much for her._

* * *

_**Sorry for not updating in a while! But I was hopping I would get at least one review! *Sob* I fail at life! **  
_

_**Okay now that that's done, I've been super busy with school. Not to mention I have another sinus infection! God I hate this, I just hope I don't get another ear infection after this like the last time. **_

_**So the next chapter is already typed, Yay! Now I just need reviews! Please! PLEASE! I'M DESPERATE! T-T**_

_**Anyway, tell me what you think, if its horrible, its its okay, if its a pile of shit. Whatever, at least I'll have a review!**_

**_(Jashin, I feel so fucking stupid for having to beg for reviews. XD)_**

**_Thanks for reading,_**

**_Of Anime and Manga_**


	10. Chapter 10

_Chapter 10_

It was a calm day and everyone was doing their normal thing, Luffy running around looking for anything edible complaining that he was bored, Usopp working on some weapon or something, Nami reading on the deck while ordering Sanji around with him doing whatever she asked, Chopper was in his room doing research, and Zoro and Sakura were sitting together.

They had been talking and watching Sakura's crew train and play a few games with Luffy occasionally joining in, but now Sakura was asleep leaning on Zoro's shoulder. He smiled down at her as she breathed softly snuggling closer to him. He was happy that she was finally spending more time with him; actually it was more like he was following her everywhere like a little lost puppy.

Everyone had noticed this and was constantly making fun of him for it, only to result in them almost being punched. He gently navigated his arm around Sakura and pulled her a little closer. He remembered all the afternoons they had spent under the very tree they had meet under. Some days they talked about their dreams, goals, or memories, other times they would nap.

That was something Zoro had always enjoyed doing, but the more time he spent with Sakura under that tree the more he found it difficult to fall asleep when she did. He always found himself silently admiring her as she sleep.

At this moment he found himself doing just that, he watched as she slowly smiled in her sleep, and he faintly wondered what she was dreaming about. He noted how two of her sharp teeth peeked out from her top lip and lightly pierced her lower lip, and how her nose would twitch every now and again.

He looked away, exhaling deeply as he looked out at the sea. His mind drifted to find a cure for Sakura, could Chopper really do it, he wondered, or would he have to put all his faith in find some apple that was only known by old sailors who usually started drink at ten in the morning. Was it even possible to find a cure? Would he have to except the fact that one day Sakura might not be here?

He shook his head ridding the horrible thought from his mind; that was when he noticed that some of Sakura's crew men were looking at them, more specifically her. They all looked worried and sad; they seemed to be thinking something along the same lines as Zoro.

Zoro had felt hurt and angry at the fact that those men had known of Sakura's cancer but she had held out on telling him from so long. She even went to the point of trying to completely avoid him; he had always been the one she had told first, no matter what it was. He was her best friend; they had never kept a secret from one another, never. Sakura had told him everything and had asked him for advice on everything.

_At fifteen Sakura was beginning to look more and more like a woman, Zoro had only just noticed this fact when he saw her walking down the street with one of her other friends. She had been wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top, though she usually wore something like that when they went out into the forest, she looked different to him somehow. She was smiling and laughing, her red hair was pulled up into a high pony tail that swished as she walked. _

_Zoro thought for a moment trying to figure out how she was different that day. That was when he noticed that she was holding hands with the guy she was walking with, and Zoro blood began to boil. He couldn't stand the thought of someone else touching his Sakura. 'Wait, since when was she mine?' Zoro thought to himself. _

_He shook his head and turned deciding that training was the best way to get Sakura out of his mind. _

_Several hours later, Sakura arrived at the training grounds watching him intently as he slashed at the poor unfortunate piece of wood in front of him. "What did that thing ever do to you?" she asked amusement evident in her voice. Zoro turned at the sound of her voice to see her standing in the shade of a tree a lazy grin on her face. "Nothing." He muttered angrily, as he sheathed his two swords, the image of her and the boy holding hands coming to his mind._

"_Well don't you sound happy." She stated as she walked over to him, and that was when he realized what was different about her. She was a woman now, not a small child that ran around covered in dirt. Sure she was still covered in cuts and bruises and a little dirt, but she wasn't a little kid anymore. _

_When Zoro came back from his thoughts he saw he standing right in front of him standing in her tippy toes looking into his eyes, "Hey, you paying attention?" she asked sounding slightly annoyed, Zoro took note of how close she was and felt heat rise into his cheeks and he leapt backwards away from her. _

_She raised an eyebrow at him before grabbing his hand and pulling him along with her, Zoro looked down at their joined hands and noticed how small her hand was as it wrapped around his own. Soon they were at their tree and she let go sitting on the ground her back against the tree. _

_Zoro quickly sat next to her and leaned back, "So what's up?" he asked tiredly knowing it had to be something pretty big if she had stopped him training. Sakura thought for a moment, she had her hands clasped in her lap and she was pushing her thumbs together, something she had always done when she was nervous. _

"_I just had my first kiss." She blurted out all of a sudden, her words came out in a jumble and Zoro had to think about them for a few seconds before they made sense. "What?!" he shouted angrily, causing Sakura to jump. "Yeah, I was hanging out with one of my friends when suddenly he kissed me." Zoro felt his blood begin to boil and he felt like he had to punch something or someone. _

"_I told him I didn't like him like that though. I don't know what to do now; it'll be all awkward when we hang out now!" Sakura said in frustration. Zoro felt somewhat smug when he heard that she had turned the guy down and came up with an idea, "I guess I'll just have to be there when you hang out with this guy now, you know so it won't be awkward._

" _Zoro smiled down at her feeling his anger melt away a little. "Really?!" She asked happily," You'd do that for me?" _

"_Of course I would." He said with a smile, and at that moment Sakura launched herself at him hugging him tightly, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She shouted again and again. Zoro decided that no other guy would get the chance to be alone with his Sakura every again. 'Wait, my Sakura? What the hell is wrong with me today?'_

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**Yay for chapter 10! Okay so I wrote this last night and I go to school the next day and my friend tells me she had her first kiss I was all like o.O then I was like *.* I'm freaking awesome for predicting that *Nods all cool like* So yeah, tonight was the first Freshmen and Sophomore team Football game. I didn't go... me and my friend are going to go to the varsity games though! Yay Football! **

**Yay that's about it...**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Of Anime and Manga **


	11. Chapter 11

_Chapter 11_

"ISLAND!" Luffy shouted bouncing up and down on his toes. "What! Where!?" Nami shouted coming up next to him, eagerly looking for said island. After a few moments Nami spotted it, it was a long way off but it was land.

"Finally," Sanji said from the kitchen doorway, "Our idiot captain here ate all the food again." Nami glared at Luffy and smacked the back of his head causing him to whine about how much it hurt.

During the next hour and a half the crew slowly sailed closer and closer to the island. "So are you going to stay at this island?" Nami asked Sakura as the guys began to lower the anchor, "I don't know…" Sakura said quietly, "It would probably be best if I left." She whispered quietly looking at the ground.

Though she had said it quietly enough for only her to hear, Zoro still managed to hear it, "No!" he shouted before quickly composing himself, "I mean, no, I think it would be best if you stay on the ship, I am in charge of you anyway."

"Is it okay with you if I stay, Luffy?" she asked looking over at him. "Of course! But I have to ask you, can you sing?" Luffy had jumped over to her and had his hands on her shoulders and was bent down to her low height, his face so close that their noses touched.

"Um, not really…" Sakura muttered and at the same time Zoro groaned and covered his ears, knowing what was coming. "I don't care! Sing anyway!" Luffy demanded and Sakura sucked in a sharp breath before taking a step away from Luffy and began to sing.

"Um… I'd rather not… I'd probably destroy your eardrums." Sakura said sheepishly, "Yeah, she would." Zoro added taking his hands off his ears. "Oh who asked you!?" Sakura barked back, looking away blushing from embarrassment. Sanji noticed how rd she got and was cooing over how adorable she was causing her to turn an even deeper shade of red, if that was even possible.

She took a few deep breaths to compose herself and looked at Luffy "Sorry, I really can't sing… but can I still stay with you guys?" she asked looking at him with wide eyes full of hope. "Of course! " Luffy said laughing and pulling her into a hug before bounding towards Sanji whining that he was hungry.

Sakura smiled before heading off to her crew to talk to them. Zoro watched her go smiling softly before turning to go prepare to dock.

Sakura talked to her crew about how she was going to stay with the Star Hats and that they could stay at this island unless they wanted to go to another island then maybe Luffy would allow them to stay a little longer. Though Sakura knew it was for the best, she couldn't help but feel sad when they all agreed to stay at this island and look for another crew to join. So when they docked Sakura gave each a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

They were like family to her and it hurt to see them go, from the time they had joined her crew she had acted as these men's mother, taking care of them, looking out for them. "If this is what watching your child leave is like, I never want to be a mother, its way to painful." Sakura muttered quietly as she watched her former wcre wander off into the large village.

She turned away and headed to the bedroom she shared with Nami, sitting down on her bed she let a small tear slither down her face. Quickly she caught herself before she began to sob, 'No! They'll be fine!' she thought to herself as she stood up, only to fall back onto the bed clutching her stomach tightly. She lay down carefully.

Her stomach heaved, clenched, twisted, and turned, occasionally sending a great sharp pain through it. She bit her tongue to stop the scream that desperately clawed up her throat. She lay on her bed curled up around her stomach, her arms wrapped around it clenching, trying to stop the pain, a few beads of sweat made their way down her forehead as she strained against the pain.

She knew no one was around, for they had all gone to get supplies or to just explore the village. Even Chopper had gone saying he needed to find some herbs and medicines. Sakura would just have to fight the pain. She knew it would go away eventually, it always did…

_At age 18 Sakura's health had decreased so rapidly that she would just sleep all day to avoid the pain and suffering. Occasionally there were days when she just couldn't sleep and had to sit through the unbearable pain. _

_There was one day when she had the worst pain in her whole life. It hurt more than the time she had accidentally slashed her stomach when playing with one of Zoro's swords when he was asleep, even more than the time she had fallen out of a tree and landed on her back on a large cluster of rocks. _

_This pain was sharp and constant, like she was being slashed at by hundreds of swords at a time, each minute the pain increased. Then for a few seconds it would absorb into a low throbbing pain, than it would go back to the swords. _

_As the pain dug away at her, she began to grow short of breath, as if her throat was closing. She would gasp and wheeze for breath, she would try and sit up but the pain made it impossible. No matter what she did, the pain would cause her to collapse back into a crumpled heap clutching her stomach as the tissue inside slowly died and peeled away. _

_As Sakura lay in her bed the doctors words echoed in her head, 'You may only have about three or four years to live, if we had found this sooner I would have immediately have taken you into surgery to remove the infected area, but by now it's far too large to remove. I'm sorry.' At the thought of only having only a few years left to live, Sakura began to sob which in turn caused her more pain, but she couldn't stop. She had to see Zoro! She had!_

_She couldn't leave this world without seeing him fulfill his dream. With that thought Sakura tried to calm down. She thought about Zoro, and how much she missed him. She cursed herself for not having told him that she loved him. She didn't him to have too much on his mind as he left, so she decided to see if by the time she meets him again that she still held that love for him then she would tell him. _

_Of course, now there was little chance of her meeting him again, she was dying._

Sakura bit her lip as the pain continued to eat away at her body, it seemed to increase by the second. Her love for Zoro had of course not disappeared at all. She had figured that by going out to see she might find more things to occupy her mind and draw her away from Zoro so that if she were to die she wouldn't feel that regret of not telling him, but when distraction didn't work she tried telling herself that he wouldn't have remembered her after three years of living out at sea, far from home.

Imagine her surprise when she saw him on a small island in a bar. She thought for sure that he wouldn't recognize her that he had forgotten, and that thought made her heart ache. When he did recognize her she was shocked, she had tried to act like she had to think about it, but to be honest she was composing herself.

More tears streamed down her face, the pain was so unbearable. If she could move she would grab her small knife next to her bed and put an end to all this pain herself. Suddenly the pain all at once stopped. Sakura let out a sob of relief but with that sob came a feeling all too familiar, she had barely managed to get her head over the side of the bed when she threw up, almost completely blood. She rolled over breathing heavily when she felt something tingle around her abdomen. It felt oddly relaxing after all the pain she had gone through. Her vision began to get slightly blurry; all she saw was a mess of shapes and colors. Squinting she tried to make out the picture next to her bed; the of her and Zoro. Then she began to have a hard time hearing the sounds of water crashing against the side of the boat.

The last thing she remembers before it all went black was the sound of Zoro banging the door open and shouting something.

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**There it is. Chapter eleven. I made it longer! about 1,500 words. That's pretty good for me! XD okay so she's not dead, maybe... But I will write more. I plan to have the next chapter up by Friday. I'll try really hard. This chapter changed so much from what I had planned. When I start typing my mind just blanks completely and my figures just keep typing. **

**So I want to know what you think! Was it sad, weird, depressing, horrible? **

**Also I have a poll on my page about my next idea, so check it out please! **

**Thanks for reading(and hopefully) reviewing!**

**Of Anime and Manga **


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

_Broken pictures flashed through Sakura's mind, those pictures were of the many regrets she had in life, from fighting with her parents, all those times she told them she hated them, too all the times she had hurt someone and had been to childish to say sorry and admit she was the one that was wrong. One that she seemed to see the longest amount of time, maybe it was because she had been thinking about it a lot recently, or maybe it was because she had lost out on her chance to fix that one mistake again. It was when she watched Zoro leave without telling him the truth. _

_How she loved him, and as selfish as she knew it was, how she didn't want him to leave, didn't want him to fulfill his dream as long as he stayed here with her. But she had ended up pushing that to the back of her mind, she had felt guilty for it, it wasn't fair to him for her to suddenly spring that on him when he was leaving, all for her own selfish reasons. _

_Sakura woke in, feeling worse than usual. But, despite the gripping pain in her stomach, she stood and got dresses, even ate a little breakfast. She slowly made her way to Zoro's house, she was seeing him off. Today was the day when he left, she would never see him again, she was sure of it. _

_When she arrived at him house as he walked out, he had his small backpack with him ready to leave. Slowly they made their way to the path leading out of the town closer to the docks. Zoro stopped and looked at Sakura, she was sweating slightly and was breathing hard. She was putting in a great effort for him._

_Slowly he reached over and pulled her closer to him, into a gentle huge. She gasped slightly, surprised that Zoro had hugged her first but relaxed into him hugging him back with all the effort she could muster. _

"_Thanks… He muttered quietly, she was almost sure she hadn't heard him. "What for?" she replied closing her eyes trying to keep the tears back._

"_For tripping over my foot that one day." With that he chuckled lightly and pulled her away from him, holding her at arm's length gently. "It means a lot that you stuck with Me." With that he moved closer and placed a kiss on her forehead, she froze unable to register what had happened, and when she moved again all she could do was say 'I love you…' only to notice that he was nowhere to be seen. _

_Against her will tears began to slide down her face and she sunk to her knees crying. _

_Zoro had left as soon as he had kissed her forehead, it was like his body moved on its own, slowly moving closer to her. It hurt to have to leave her, but he knew he had to get stronger and become the best before her was worthy enough to take care of her. He turned to look back, but he knew he would see nothing but the trees that blocked him from his true love. "I love you, Sakura…"_

Zoro flung the door open to Sakura and Nami's room. He had been heading to the guys room to sleep when he heard crying. It was faint but she could hear it.

He immediately saw Sakura on the bed and saw her eyes flutter close as her breathing went from raged to still in a mere second. Time seemed to slow down as he saw Sakura go still and he rushed to her. He began to shake her, and saying her name over and over.

"Please Sakura, please don't leave me yet! You can't do this, not yet! We just found each other, please I'm begging you!"

By this time Zoro hadn't even realized he was crying, or that Chopper was at his side pushing him away trying to get closer to Sakura. He didn't register the feeling of someone moving him out of the room or that he was lead to his bed. He was in a state of shock. Sakura could be dead, he might never get the chance to see her again, to tell her he loved her.

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**There you go! Another chapter! I would really quickly like to thank the awesome guest reviewer who took time to review! You are awesome! **

**So tell me what you think! I might post another chapter this weekend, I'm not sure though. So tell me what you think please! Oh and I might strat taking some request for OC stories! If you have any ideas you want me to write. **

**Thank for reading, **

**Of Anime and Manga**


	13. Chapter 13

_Chapter 13_

The next few hours where the worst of Zoro's life, he couldn't stand it, Chopper was doing who knows what with Sakura and he had to sit outside the door. He had caught himself right before he had begun to cry but he was so scared.

He had never felt so useless in his life, not once. He had always been able to help Sakura, but this was the one thing he could not cure, no matter what he did.

A few more hours passed of Zoro sitting outside the door trying to think of anything but what could be taking so long, all his other crewmates came and went, trying to fix up things around the ship to keep their minds of what had happened.

Suddenly the door opened and Chopper walked out, looking sad and tired, "Well?" Zoro asked scrambling up and rushing to the tiny doctor. Chopper looked up at him before looking at the ground, "Come on." He said walking towards the deck and calling all the others. Zoro looked back at the door wondering how she was before rushing to hear what Chopper said.

Chopper took a shake breath before beginning, "Sakura… well she's asleep right now, but I'm afraid she doesn't have much longer, a few weeks maybe. She's in the most severe stages of Stomach Cancer right now. I've been trying to find a way to cure it, but… but it's impossible, especially now at this late of a stage. I'm sorry." The little doctor was crying now, big fat tears rolling down his fuzzy cheeks. Zoro turned and headed to the room where she now lay asleep.

He gently opened the door and walked in closing it soundlessly behind him, approaching the bed Zoro held his breath, there she lay; perfectly still the only sign of life was when her chest would gently rise and fall. He collapsed into the chair next to the bed and took her hand, "I'm so sorry." He whispered hanging his head squeezing his eyes closed.

Sakura's hand twitched slightly and he looked up at her face to see she was slowly opening her eyes, "Zo-Z- Zoro?" she asked weakly, "I'm right here." He whispered smiling at her, tears began to wheal in his eyes, "Sakura, I just want you to know something, I- I love you." He said looking at her, feeling the heat rise to his cheeks, and he quickly glanced down at the ground. "I love you too, Zoro." It was barely a whisper and Zoro's head shot up to look at her only to be met with warm lips pressed against his own, and his eyes widened.

Without a moments delay he kissed back softly, before she pulled away settling back on the bed with a soft sigh. Zoro smiled at him, despite the sadness he felt in his heart. He had to find something, anything to keep her alive.

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**Hey, so this is just a short one, sorry. I'm working on a new Naruto story! Yay! I'm going to try to update at least one-two times a week, most likely on the weekend. **

**So tell me what you think!**

**Thank You for reading!**

**Of Anime and Manga**


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